Improvement in alloys for journal-boxes



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH GARRATT, SR., OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN ALLOYS FORJOURNAL- BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 13,427, dated August 14, 1855.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH GARRA'IT, Sr., of Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Composition of Metal for Making J ournal-Boxes, &c.; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The nature of my invention consists in pro dueing an alloy of a bluish-gray color, which, while it has unsurpassable anti-friction qualities, has also sufiicient tenacity to allow of journal-boxes being formed of it that do not require the protection of outer casings of a harder metal, the said alloy being composed of zinc, copper, and antimony in about the following proportions, viz: seventeen parts zinc, one part copper, and one part and a half of antimony, or any other mixture substantially the same, and which will produce the intended effect.

In preparing my improved alloy for journal-boxes I generally sinniltaneously melt the zinc and the copper in separate vessels, then put the antimony into the melted copper, and as soon as it is thoroughly melted l pour the said alloy of copper and antimony into the vessel containing the melted zinc and thoroughly incorporate the respective parts of the alloy with each other, and as soon as this has been accomplished the said alloy should be formed into journal-boxes or other frictionsurfaces, or into bars or pigs to be used at any future time.

Journal-boxes made of this alloy are more durable, and can be furnished at a less cost, tlian those in common use, either formed entirely of brass or of a brass shell lined with what is termed Babbitt metal.

I am aware that many different alloys of metals have been made and discovered but, so far as I know, no alloy of such metals, in about the same proportions as mine, for making journal-boxes has ever been known or used before.

As the utility and economy of any new al- 10y for a specific purpose cannot be predicted from a knowledge of any old alloy, experiments alone can determine the quality and adaptability of any new alloy in its application to a specific object, its employment for a special purpose.

My alloy described is the result of many experiments, and it has been submitted to the severest tests on railroad-cars to determine its utility.

Boxes formed of the alloy I have described possess sufficient strength and hardness to prevent them being pressed out of form, as is the case with Babbitt metal, which therefore has to be incased with brass or some very hard metal. They also cause aslittle, if not less, friction than brass boxes, or those formed with the Babbitt metal. They are easily worked and receive an excellent polish, and as they can be manufactured much cheaper than the common bearing-boxes generally employed on railroad-ears they will effect a great saving in the railway expenses of our country.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The production of an alloy of a bluish-gray color, which, while it has unsurpassable antifriction qualities, has also sufiicient tenacity to allow ot'journal-boxes being formed of it that do not require the protection of outer casings of a. harder metal, the said alloy being composed of zinc, copper, and antimony in about the following proportions, viz: seven teen parts zinc, one part copper, and one part and a half of antimony, or any other mixture substantially the same, and which will produce the same effect.

JOSEPH GARRATT, SR.

Witnesses:

WM. SULLIVAN, H UGH CUNNINGHAM. 

